


The Great (Not Just British) Drivers Christmas Bake Off

by simplyverstappen



Series: F1 goes Bake Off [2]
Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Baking, Baking Competition, Christmas, Christmas Bake Off, Crack, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, M/M, The Great British Bake Off, and yet it was so much fun once again, lots of yelling, this was absolutely not planned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:06:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28336656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simplyverstappen/pseuds/simplyverstappen
Summary: “Welcome to a very festive special edition of The Great British Bake Off with Formula One drivers - who knows, maybe it will be a bit less chaotic and more peaceful than in the summer.”“SEB I THINK SOMETHING IS BURNING!”“FUCK!”“Merry fucking Christmas.”“This is an absolute nightmare.”“I really wanna go home.”
Relationships: Alexander Albon/Lando Norris/George Russell, Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen, Kimi Räikkönen/Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton/Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg/Kevin Magnussen, Pierre Gasly/Charles Leclerc
Series: F1 goes Bake Off [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2075640
Comments: 38
Kudos: 164





	The Great (Not Just British) Drivers Christmas Bake Off

**Author's Note:**

> Listen. I did not plan this. Absolutely not 
> 
> But then I zoomed with my friends and Johanna aka _PoemAboutCitylights_ said on the 23rd of December at fucking 10 pm "but Mone can't you write a Christmas Bake Off fic 🥺" and I just- did that skjdksd
> 
> I wrote this in less than 14 hours, gave it a day to sit and to edit it and I really, really like what came out of it to be honest :') 
> 
> @ Johanna, I hope you know you are fully responsible for this mess and I hope you'll like it 💛 thank you for always being so supportive of everything I do 💛
> 
> It's a bit shorter than the original one but - hopefully - just as much fun and I hope you'll enjoy it! 
> 
> Merry Christmas once again and take care of yourselves friends 💛

“Did you think you’d be back so quickly?” Natalie gives the two drivers in front of her a warm smile and Nico Rosberg frowns. “Not really.”

“But when Toto asked we agreed, of course”, Lewis Hamilton throws in a small smile on his face. “And again, it’s for a good cause so I don’t mind.”

“And we have to defend our title after all,” Nico smirks, ignoring Lewis rolling his eyes whole Natalie clears her throat. “Are you a bit happier about your partner choice this time? Given that you both proved you can win together?”

“No”, comes it from both the drivers immediately and Natalie sighs deeply, deciding to just move on to the next team. 

-

“My Mum was so proud of me after the last time.” Daniel Ricciardo grins broadly into the camera, huddled in front of the camera with a thick coat, a beanie on his head and Max Verstappen next to him snorts. “She wanted us to recreate our cake from the Showstopper challenge.”

“Did you?”

“We failed once again tremendously”, Daniel replies cheerfully, “but what was left of it tasted pretty good.” 

No one notices the silver ring around Max’s finger or the small smile the two drivers exchange. 

-

“The thing is”, Pierre Gasly starts seriously, “that we didn’t have time to practice.”

“You didn’t?” Natalie stares at them with raised eyebrows and Charles Leclerc grimaces. 

“We didn’t think we would do this again anytime soon.” And it's not like he actually _wants_ to go back into that tent. He sighs deeply before a happy grin appears on his face. “But hey, at least Seb is still here!”

-

“Yeah, we’ll try to avoid helping Charles this time”, Sebastian Vettel states dryly, a small smile playing around his lips. “But then again our baking skills haven’t really improved I’m afraid. We’re still happy to be back though.”

“You too, Kimi?” Natalie throws Kimi Räikkönen a curious look but Kimi just shrugs, wearing sunglasses even though there really isn’t any sun in England in December. “I guess. It’s for charity so it’ll be alright.”

“Do you think you can win this time?”

“I don’t think so but then again, it can’t get worse than my year with Ferrari.” Seb shrugs, still grinning, looking completely relaxed and Natalie manages just in time to hold back her laughter. 

-

“We want that title”, George Russell tells Natalie, a determined look in his eyes. “I won’t lose my podium in Bahrain _and_ another baking competition!”

“I’m not even sure why I’m still here”, Alexander Albon comments dryly and Lando Norris stares at him offended. “Alex! Teamwork makes the dream work!”

“Tell that to Christian”, Alex grumbles and George grins. “Whatever, we want to end the season on a high and nothing will stop us.”

“This is our redemption arc”, Lando adds seriously and Alex can’t hold back his grin any longer. “You could call it that, yeah.” 

-

“Has your relationship improved since your time at Bake Off?”, Natalie asks and Nico Hulkenberg smirks. “One can say that, yeah.”

He winks at Kevin Magnussen who just rolls his eyes and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “I want to make clear that we both still don’t have any baking experience so I hope no one gets their hopes up and starts rooting for us.” 

“Oh, but you did so well in the end!” Natalie gives them a supportive smile but Kevin waves dismissively. “Yeah no, it’s just going to be as chaotic as last time.” 

-

“Welcome to yet another very special edition of The Great British Bake Off!” Jenson Button, wearing a Santa hat with his white dress shirt, grins broadly into the camera. “We are absolutely delighted to be back in Welford Park in Berkshire and we have yet another baking marathon ahead of us!”

“Formula One decided to host another Bake Off for charity after the first one was such a success and all our drivers agreed, more or less enthusiastic, to take part in it again.” Toto Wolff, who wears a Santa hat as well, smiles warmly. “We changed the rules a little as this time we will have only two challenges in just one day. Furthermore, we will be your hosts again with Romain Grosjean and Christian Horner taking up their roles as judges again.”

“It’s going to be dramatic”, Jenson smiles, “they’ll swear, pray, laugh and, hopefully, bake something eatable.” 

-

“We are excited to be back, it’s such an honour”, Romain Grosjean starts, an excited smile on his face. “And it’s such a nice way to end the season, see the boys one more time!”

“It was an exhausting year and I think we all need a bit of Christmas spirit”, Christian Horner agrees. “I hope our drivers are prepared because we won’t let anything slide just because it’s Christmas.”

-

“It’s going to get festive, that’s for sure.” Jenson grins, turning to Toto. “And who knows, maybe it will be a bit less chaotic and more peaceful than in the summer. So, Toto, what is your prediction, who do you think is going to be our Starbaker team this time?”

“I’m pretty sure Nico and Lewis are going to defend their title.” Toto looks confident, smiling and Jenson raises his eyebrows. “What makes you so sure about that?”

“They work well under pressure and I have full faith in them.” 

“What about the rookies?”

“They’ll have to prove that they weren’t a one-hit-wonder in the summer - they are good competition but I think Lewis and Nico will bring this home.” Toto is still smiling and Jenson shrugs, turning back to the camera. “Alright, my money is on Alex, George and Lando but who knows, maybe one team will surprise us all. We’ll find out very soon - let’s get started, shall we?” 

-

The camera shows the familiar Bake Off tent, the drivers ready in their teams behind their workstations, the tent festively decorated. 

Max really didn’t think he would be back in the Bake Off tent so soon. It’s been roughly half a year since their first baking adventure and yet he’s back again, standing next to Daniel at his workstation, Jenson, Toto, Christian and Romain at the front and it’s nearly as it was in summer. 

Except that now there are Christmas trees standing in the corners of the tent, they’re wearing Santa hats (Max misses his cap), Dan some ridiculous Christmas jumper next to him with fake reindeer antlers on his head and there are fairy lights everywhere. 

And it’s grey and raining outside, a stark contrast to that beautiful summer weekend they had half a year ago. 

“We’ll start with something very simple, gentlemen!” Jenson looks way too excited for Max’s taste and he supports himself on his elbows, leaning on the kitchen counter.

“That’s what you said last time and then it ended in a complete disaster”, Seb grumbles and Jenson’s grin, if possible, only widens. 

“It’s simple, believe me. We’ll start with a bake you’ve all done as kids already-“

“I’ve never baked as a kid”, Charles throws in and Jenson sighs deeply. 

“Right, nearly all of you then. It’s something that will always come in handy during Christmas and is a crowd-pleaser.”

“We will start with simple Christmas cookies”, Romain announces with a bright smile. “Decorating them with my kids is my favourite part of the season and I’m sure you’ll like it just as much.” 

“It won’t be that easy though”, Christian throws in. “We want to see creativity. Show us what you can do, add a personal touch to them and tell us why your Christmas cookies are the best.” 

“Because we made them and we are amazing?” Daniel raises his eyebrows, a small grin playing around his lips and Max snorts, hiding his own grin behind his hand. 

“You have two and a half hours; make the best of it. Alright bakers, on your makes, get set ... BAKE!”

The countdown starts and Max turns to the basic cookie recipe on their counter, frowning. 

“That sounds actually easier than the cakes we did.”

“Don’t jinx it.” Daniel laughs, leaning over his shoulder and Max holds back his smile, knowing the cameras are pointed at them.

“Alrighty, let’s make some gingerbread men.”

-

“I can’t believe we’re doing this again”, Seb mumbles, staring at the recipe in front of him. “It’s for a good cause, of course, but- I don’t know, Kimi. I have a bad feeling about this.” 

“It was your idea, Seb.” Kimi shrugs, calmly weighing their ingredients. “As long as we don’t get distracted-“

“SEB!”

“By the little demon”, Kimi ends his sentence dryly and Seb smiles at him quickly before turning around. “You’re okay, Charles?” 

“SEB!” Kimi stares at him incredulously, Jenson, Romain and Christian who just joined their workstation are all grinning and Seb shrugs helplessly. “What? He’s not my teammate anymore, we don’t see each other that often anymore-“

“ _Abu Dhabi was last week_!” Kimi stares at him incredulously and Jenson clears his throat, a grin playing around his lips. “I see it’s going well?”

“Oh it’s going brilliantly”, Kimi deadpans, “we continue exactly where we left off.” 

-

“We need a plan to win this”, George says, a serious expression in his eyes. “It needs to be absolutely perfect.”

“Don’t worry, mate, it will be.” Lando nudges him gently while Alex still avoids looking at his - well technically Christian is still his boss but it’s complicated and Lando turns to him. “Alex? Are you with us?”

“I’m bitter”, Alex mumbles after making sure no camera is around and George sighs deeply. “I know but what better way to show him the metaphoric middle finger than us are winning this now?”

“And what for-“

“Alex”, George’s voice drops threateningly low while he raises his eyebrows, “start weighing the ingredients or I swear, I’ll dunk your head in the flour.”

That actually makes Alex grin and he raises his hands defensively, shaking his head amused. “Alright, alright, no need to get so bossy. I swear, the one time he drives a Mercedes-“ 

He laughs loudly when George throws a handful of flour at him, Lando staring at them with wide eyes before he starts grinning. “I can’t believe I’m the adult for once.”

"You are not", Alex and George reply at the same time and Lando starts laughing loudly. 

“Boys, looks like you’re having fun”, Jenson comments amused when he comes over to them and George straightens his back a little, smirking. “We do.”

“You think you can win this?”, Christian asks and George easily holds his gaze, still smirking. “Absolutely.” 

“Any idea what your cookies are going to look like?”, Jenson asks, ignoring George’s stare-off with the team boss of Red Bull and Lando nods. “We’ll do something very personal.”

“That sounds lovely and we’re definitely very excited to see what you come up with.” Romain gives them an encouraging smile and Lando nods, starting to mix their dough together. “It’s going to be great, you just wait.”

-

“Listen, Nico, we did it once, we can do it again-“

“We _could_ do it again if you’d start listening to what I’m saying!” Nico groans in annoyance, firmly mixing their dough together and ignoring that he spills quite a bit of it on their counter. “Why are you so set on changing everything??”

“I’m not saying we should change anything, all I’m saying is-“

“That we should steer away from the recipe! And that’s stupid!” Nico glares at him, completely ignoring Toto, Romain and Christian walking over. “The first rule of Bake Off is always to stick to the recipe!”

“How would you know that??”

“You made me watch every goddamn season with you!” 

“So how is it going-“

“These are simple _christmas cookies_ , Nico, not a three-layered wedding cake!” Lewis crosses his arms in front of his chest, definitely annoyed by now. They’re losing time and he can’t believe they’re arguing _again_. 

He really hates competitions with Nico. 

“Still! Just stick to the recipe-“

“It’s called artistic freedom-“

“Artistic freedom won’t get us the win though!”

They don’t notice Toto, Romain and Christian wandering off to the next team, both too focused on bickering. 

-

“I’m really glad we did a bit of baking in the meantime”, Hulk says quietly while they’re mixing the dough and Kevin nods in agreement. “Seems like we are the only ones who actually kept baking after the competition.”

“Well, good for us,” Hulk smirks, adding some eggs to the dough and, after making sure no one is paying them any attention (the cameras are with Charles right now and to be honest, Nico can’t blame them - the disaster child makes for good entertainment) he squeezes Kevin’s ass quickly while passing him. 

Kevin yelps before he glares at him, a pink blush appearing in his cheeks. “Stop that, dickhead!”

“Never.” Hulk laughs before they peacefully start cutting out the cookies, settling for the classic Christmas symbols like stars, trees, Santa and, for good measure, a few hearts. 

That's as personal as it will get with them. 

“You two are quiet”, Jenson comments when he shows up at their work station, Romain and Christian with him and Kevin shrugs. “We have our work cut out for us, we both know what to do. No need for talking.”

“I’m very excited to taste your cookies”, Romain throws in, ignoring Christian’s mumbled “are you sure about that” and Nico laughs. “Believe me, we are too. But it’s going well.”

He waves at their baking trays and Romain nods, looking pleased. “We’ll let you get back to it then.”

They wander over to Charles and Pierre and Kevin pushes their first few trays in the oven, taking a deep breath. Maybe he should just quit racing for good and start a café in the States with Nico. 

It definitely sounds more peaceful than racing at the moment. 

-

“We need to do better than last time”, Pierre states and Charles nods. “We do.”

“We need to be fully focused.”

“Absolutely.”

“And we can’t rely on Seb because he also can’t bake.”

“Pierre! Stop being rude!” Charles stares at his boyfriend and Pierre raises his eyebrows. “What? I really like him and he’s a great driver but he _can’t bake_!”

“He was just a bit unlucky- SEB!”, Charles yells and Pierre narrows his eyes at him. “Don’t you dare. IT’S OKAY FOR NOW!”, he yells at Seb who just shrugs and turns around again. “So-“

“You guys know this is still a competition, right?” Jenson’s amused voice makes them look up and Pierre sighs deeply. “Oh, believe me, I know.”

“But it’s Christmas”, Charles throws in, chewing on his bottom lip. “And I mean, I’ve had a really hard season-“

“Just bake the cookies”, Christian interrupts him, an amused grin playing around his lips and Charles grumbles something before pulling the cookie recipe closer. 

“If required, add...”, he reads quietly and he looks up, frowning. “I- SEB! SEB WHAT THE FUCK IS CARDA- CADRI- CARDAMOM?!”

-

Their cookies are maybe a little dark given that they bickered _again_ but Nico simply hopes no one will notice and they can cover it with their icing. It's still in an acceptable shade of golden brown. 

They’re both not really talking, the mood is icy between them and Nico takes a deep breath, forcing himself to keep his hand steady, outlining the shapes of the small Formula One Christmas cookie in front of him.

The production team started playing Christmas music in the background, Jenson is currently joking around with Daniel and Max but Nico ignores them, reaching for the silver icing, drawing a small 6 on the car. 

“That looks good”, Lewis comments casually and Nico slowly turns towards him, raising an eyebrow. “You? Complimenting _me_? Christmas really came early, huh?”

There’s no malice in his words though and Lewis grins before turning back to his own little race car, drawing a 44 on it, his hand calm. “Don’t get used to it.”

They’re quiet again but Nico can’t stop smiling, he’s already looking forward to Christmas, them flying to Colorado to go skiing and snowboarding after all the family events and he reaches for the turquoise colour.

But first, they have to win another baking competition. 

-

“I hate this”, Seb mutters, staring at the cookies in front of him. “How can a tree be so complicated?? How??!”

“I don’t know.” Kimi is also staring at the trees, they did lose a bit of time after Seb had to explain to Charles what exactly cardamom is and then they panicked, over baked their cookies and are now nearly black. 

“This is worse than Ferrari’s pit stop strategies this year”, Seb comments dryly and Kimi, who just took a sip of his water bottle, chokes on his water laughing. “Seb!”

“It’s true!” Seb shakes his head frustrated, reaching for the powdered sugar and lemon juice. “And the icing looks horrible!”

The green of their trees somehow turned into an ugly olive-brownish and Kimi scratches his neck, an unsure expression on his eyes. “Did you taste them?” 

“I don’t want to”, Seb admits and they share a look of mutual understanding before they burst out laughing. 

“TWENTY MINUTES LEFT BAKERS!”, Jenson calls from the front and Seb sighs deeply. “I’m so glad my Mum sent us Christmas cookies for Christmas and we don't have to bake them ourselves.” 

-

“They actually taste amazing???” Max turns to Daniel, an incredulous expression in his eyes, taking another bite of one of the chocolate reindeer cookies they made. “They’re actually really fucking good!”

His eyes are shining with excitement and Daniel holds back a snort, grinning - only Max would swear on a Christmas show on TV and after making sure no camera is around he hands Max the gingerbread man with a black harness and the pink gag.

“He reminded me of you”, he tells him, watching Max closely but Max just smiles, barely taking a look at the gingerbread man before taking a bite of him. “Thanks!”

He eats his arm as well and Daniel stares at him incredulously. “Max ... did you realise what the gingerbread man resembles?”, he asks slowly and Max frowns, looking back at the cookie in his hand. 

It takes exactly five seconds before he flushes a deep red and he glares at Daniel, Daniel putting his head back and laughing loudly. 

“You’re the fucking worst, Daniel Ricciardo!” Max can’t hold back his own laughter anymore, eating the rest of the gingerbread man and two more chocolate reindeer cookies and it’s only then Daniel realises that their number of cookies has declined in a worrying short amount of time. 

“Max ... how many cookies did you actually eat?”

“... FUCK.” 

-

“TEN MINUTES BAKERS!”

“Oh god oh god oh god NO”, Lando mumbles, forcing himself to keep his hand steady and ignore George and Alex who are watching him closely. “Why do I get the task with the most responsibility?”

“Because you’re the only one of us who’s somewhat artistic”, George comments and Alex nods, a small smile on his face. “And it looks really, really good.”

“Thanks”, Lando mutters, reaching for another colour before looking back at the cookies in front of him, feeling a little bit proud. 

They _do_ look amazing and he hums along time ‘Jingle Bell Rock’, continuing with their last three cookies. 

They need to win this. 

He won’t fuck this up. 

-

“FIVE MINUTES LEFT!”

“NO!”, Charles yells back before turning back to their cookies, desperately trying to get the sprinkles to stick to the icing. 

His outfit is a mess of flour and dough, there’s icing everywhere and he’s really done but at least their cookies look good.

Better than Seb’s at least and that’s something he is very proud of. 

He does feel very sorry for Seb too though. 

Maybe he can slide him a few cookies over-

But they’d probably notice that. 

“You think this is good?” He throws the cookies a sceptical look, poking one testingly with his finger but pulls back when Pierre glares at him. 

“Don’t touch them or you’ll ruin the decoration!” 

“I have icing sugar everywhere.” Charles grimaces when he wants to brush his hair back and suddenly has a sticky forehead and Pierre sighs. There’s a smile on his face though and he nudges him gently. 

“It wasn’t a complete disaster, no? It can only get better.”

-

“Aaaaand your time is up, step away from your bakes, please!” 

Toto smiles, arms crossed in front of his chest and Kevin takes a deep breath, stepping back from their cookies. They look actually decent and he has hope for a second - that is until he sees what Nico and Lewis did. 

“We recreated Nico’s car from 2016 and mine from this year, gave both the black livery and duplicated them a few times”, Lewis explains, handing them a plate with their cookies and Kevin is actually speechless.

So are Romain and Christian, the cars look _so real_ , all the sponsors are at the right places, they even a Black Lives Matter slogan and Romain shakes his head, a fascinated look in his eyes. “They look absolutely amazing, your attention to detail- I never would have expected that from two amateur bakers. They are absolutely brilliant!”

“Very impressive”, Christian nods, taking a bite from a cookie with the number 6. “And they taste fantastic.”

“They’re not too dry, really well baked”, Romain adds and Nico and Lewis smile. “Thank you.”

Jenson, Toto and their judges move on, stopping in front of Max and Daniel’s workstation and Jenson raises his eyebrows. “You have only baked ... two cookies??”

The disbelief in his voice is evident and while Daniel seems to have a really hard time not to burst out laughing Max clears his throat, sheepishly scratching his neck.

“Eh, yeah funny story we actually made two trays but...”

“Max ate all of them”, Daniel throws in a huge grin on his face. “Because he was surprised they tasted so good.”

“They are really good”, Christian agrees and Kevin holds back a snort - of course the Red Bull team boss sides with his first driver. 

Max just grins proudly while Romain frowns, biting off the ear of one of the chocolate reindeer cookies they made. 

“They’re alright-“, Max glares at him but Romain just keeps talking, “but- you were supposed to make two trays so ... I’m really sorry.” 

“Fine”, Daniel sighs, wrapping an arm around Max’s neck and lazily pulling him closer. “We are gracious in defeat.” 

He pops the last cookie into his mouth and Jenson shakes his head amused before they head to Seb and Kimi and Kevin raises one eyebrow when he sees the mess on their plate. 

“That’s ... something.” Christian raises his eyebrows and Seb sighs. “Yeah, we tried our best but it wasn’t enough.” 

“Ferrari’s season in a nutshell”, Max mumbles lowly and the others burst out laughing, Kevin grinning.

“The shade”, Hulk whispers next to him and Kevin nods, watching how Christian, Romain, Toto and Jenson try their best to keep it together and appear professional. 

“It’s very sloppy”, Christian comments on the icing and Kimi shrugs. “Yeah.”

“And they do taste a bit ... artificial.” Romain grimaces and puts his cookie back on the plate, giving Seb and Kimi an apologetic glance. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Seb waves dismissively, he looks like he made peace with his non-existing baking skills and Kevin looks over to Lando, Alex and George who are next. 

What-

“We recreated our trophies from this season”, Lando explains quietly, lifting their tray carefully so the others can see as well. “My third place in Austria, Alex’s third place in Mugello and George’s win in Bahrain.”

“But George didn’t-“, Jenson wants to throw in but Lando shrugs. “It was his podium and his win if Mercedes hadn’t fucked up his race.”

It’s quiet for a second, everyone staring a bit touched at the trophy cookies and Kevin swallows dryly. It’s a very sweet gesture and Christian clears his throat. 

“They’re really well done”, he says and Romain nods. “The attention for detail is stunning, every line is perfect!”

“It was your trophy, George”, Toto says quietly, lifting the first place trophy cookie from the Sakhir GP. “And it’s beautifully done.” 

“And they taste really good”, Christian adds, flashing Alex a small smile. “Not that I expected anything else from you.”

“Thank you!” Lando beams proudly, he seems to be vibrating with energy and Jenson pats his back before they move on to Charles and Pierre and now Kevin is _really_ curious. 

Their baking neighbours cursed a lot again during decorating but it was a lot less chaotic than during the summer and the outcome looks actually decent. 

“Talk us through, what did you do?”, Toto asks when they reach their station and Charles clears his throat. 

“We made cookies that resemble things that are close to us”, he explains. “The French and Monegasque flag, Jules’ and Anthoine’s racing numbers, a champagne bottle, a Formula One car, ...”

He waves at the tray and Kevin feels his throat tighten a little again when he sees what they did. Romain looks a bit taken aback as well, clearing his throat.

“Boys that’s- it’s beautiful”, he says quietly and Christian nods. “It’s a lovely tribute.”

Kevin’s gaze falls on Seb who looks proudly at his former teammate and Pierre clears his throat. “You want to try them?”

“Definitely.” Romain gives them an enthusiastic smile, taking a bite and everyone watches him closely. Romain swallows, the smile staying on his face. “They’re good!”

“They’re okay”, Christian interferes, “a bit dry and crumbly but decent.”

“You’ll get full points for the decoration though”, Romain says with a small smile. “They look amazing.”

They move on, Pierre and Charles look incredibly proud and happy and Kevin feels himself tensing a little - this is ridiculous. Seriously, once again, it’s just a baking competition- 

“Guys, they look good!” Romain gives him a supportive smile and Hulk smirks. “Yeah, we tried to keep it classy, you know. Not overestimating our abilities or something like that.” 

“They’re really adorable”, Jenson says amused, curiously picking up a star-shaped cookie while Christian reaches for a Christmas tree-shaped one. 

“And they taste alright”, he comments and Kevin breathes out in relief. At least they didn’t do completely terrible. 

And after seeing Seb and Kimi’s cookies he’s pretty sure they’re at least not last. 

“That was a great start for the Christmas Bake Off, don’t you think?” Jenson grins, he’s back at the front of the tent with Toto, Romain and Christian. “Are you two ready to tell us your results?”

“Yeah, I don’t think we need to discuss much here.” Romain smiles before he looks to Seb and Kimi, his smile turning a little sad. “P6 goes to you two - I’m sorry but it was just not good enough.”

“It’s okay, we expected it.” Seb doesn’t look too bothered, shrugging and Kimi nods. “It’s fine.” 

To be fair, Kevin isn’t surprised after seeing … whatever that was. 

“P5...”, Christian hesitates before he sighs. “Max, Daniel, I’m sorry but you’re P5.”

“What?” Max stares at him looking a bit offended while Daniel just shrugs, adjusting his reindeer antlers. “It was good fun”, he says with his usual grin and Max snorts, a disbelieving look in his eyes. “We are behind _Charles_?!”

“I’m sorry but you ate all the cookies, Max-“

“Oh, so I can’t eat what I bake?!”

“Yes you can but maybe let us judge your bakes before that-“

“Pfff.” Max crosses his arms in front of his chest, looking grumpy and Daniel grins, sliding an arm around his waist. “Stop pouting, my little gingerbread man-“

“What did you just call me?”

“Anyway”, Toto interrupts their bickering, Daniel is just laughing and Kevin turns his gaze away with a fond smile. He knows they’re off to Australia after this, marrying there at the end of the year and he’s incredibly happy for them. 

“Let’s move on and figure out who claims P4.” 

Kevin feels himself tense up again, their cookies were decent, maybe they can get P3-

“P4 goes to Kevin and Nico.” Romain smiles at them broadly and Kevin tries his best not to be too disappointed. P4 is great, it’s better than how they started the last time-

“The cookies were just a bit _too_ basic”, Christian explains and from the corner of his eyes, Kevin sees Hulk rolls his eyes. “You’re basic”, he whispers and Kevin turns away from the camera to hide his laughter. 

“That means P3 goes to Charles and Pierre - it was a very touching decoration and you would’ve been in the top two if the taste had been a bit better”, Christian says, smiling at Charles and Pierre who seems genuinely shocked about their good result.

“P3 Pierre!”, Charles then yells before he high-fives with him, Max still looks grumpy and Pierre hugs Charles tightly, a happy expression in his eyes. “Yes!” 

“That leaves you two again.” Toto looks from Nico and Lewis to Alex, George and Lando and Kevin shifts a little, leaning against the counter. 

Lando looks incredibly nervous all of a sudden, holding hands with Alex and George and Romain clears his throat. “Both bakes were absolutely perfect and we really had to look for the details here.”

“And the taste was great with both cookies, working really well with your choice of icing”, Christian adds and Kevin sees Lando nervously chew on his bottom lip. 

“I loved the emotional and personal touches you both added to your designs.” Romain smiles before taking a deep breath. “But as we said, we had to look for the details. P2 ... goes to Alex, George and Lando, meaning P1 in this challenge goes to Nico and Lewis, congratulations!” 

“Oh, _come on_ ”, Lando groans while the others cheer and clap, Lewis hugging Nico shortly, a happy grin on his face and Daniel yells “GET IN THERE LEWIS!” 

“You still have the last challenge to turn everything around, of course”, Toto tells them, a grin playing on his lips. “Make the best out of it.”

“Oh, believe me, we will”, George mutters. 

It sounds a bit threatening if you asked Kevin. 

-

The rain is still pouring down heavily on the outside, the sky grey and dark but the mood in the tent is cheerful. The production team has handed out some mulled wine (without alcohol), the drivers are mingling with each other and chatting happily, reviewing the season.

The mood is good, Christmas cookies are being tested by the other teams and Max leans against Daniel, enjoying their small break. 

He’s still annoyed they came up behind Charles but he has to admit it was good fun and - even though he would never admit that to anyone - he missed this. 

Missed baking, missed the slightly competitive atmosphere paired with pure chaos and he takes a sip from his mulled wine, Daniel’s arm around his waist while they’re talking with Lando and Alex. 

It’s been a good year and he can’t wait to end it with marrying Daniel on the 31st in Perth. 

-

“We were behind Charles and that’s just unacceptable”, Max states dryly. “He was the worst baker in the tent the last time.”

“Do you think he improved or-“

“We failed. Massively.” 

“Is it really that much of a big deal-“

“Listen, I don’t have many goals in life but one of them, next to becoming World Champion one day, is to always beat Charles. Doesn’t matter at what”, Max interrupts Natalie and Daniel grins. “But our cookies _did_ taste really good.” 

-

“We, once again, came second to Nico and Lewis. And we want that win.” Lando crosses his arms in front of his chest, a determined expression in his eyes and George nods. “Our cookies were perfect.”

“So were Nico and Lewis’ but I think we can do even better”, Alex adds, a small grin on his face. “We will win that next challenge.”

“Whatever it takes.” Lando has a grim look in his eyes and Natalie laughs. “You take this surprisingly serious.”

“We are competitive.” George grins, putting an arm around Lando and Alex. “And if I didn’t get my win in Bahrain I at least want it now.” 

-

“We got P3, that’s absolutely amazing.” Charles grins proudly and Pierre nods. “It was about time.”

“And you really hadn’t practised at all?”, Natalie asks them but both shake their heads. “No, we didn’t think we would do this ever again.” Pierre laughs, running a hand through his hair. “And yet here we are.”

“Who knows, maybe we can give Alex, George and Lando, and Nico and Lewis a run for their money,” Charles smirks. “Maybe they’ll fuck something up - maybe we’ll get a Christmas miracle after all.” 

-

“Of course we are pleased with the result”, Nico says and Lewis nods in agreement. “It was quite tight but that’s what makes it so exciting.”

“Do you think you are able to defend your title?”, Natalie asks and while Lewis hesitates Nico nods confidently. “Absolutely.”

“It does look really good right now”, Lewis says with a small smile on his face. “We have to wait for the second challenge and work hard and then we’ll know.” 

-

“It’s going alright.” Kevin shrugs, he’s not too fixated on the win - he’s just happy to spend a bit more time with the other drivers before he moves to the US. 

“Yeah, we’re having fun.” Nico grins, adjusting his Santa hat a little - Kevin hates to admit it but that bastard looks ridiculously good with it. 

Hot, even. 

It's distracting. 

“Any predictions for the next challenge?”, Natalie asks and Nico smirks. “More chaos.” 

-

“I mean it wasn’t a good start”, Seb starts slowly, weighing his words carefully, “and it was very stressful and hectic and I doubt we will improve but it’s fun and for a good cause and that’s all that matters, right?”

“You think that as well, Kimi?”, Natalie asks and Kimi shrugs. “Bwoah, I guess.”

“It’s for charity and it’s going to be okay”, Seb adds, smiling. “Baking isn’t our strong suit and more than just being able to read the recipe but it’s definitely fun.” 

-

“For your next and last challenge”, Toto starts, leaning against the counter behind him, “we are doing a classic.”

“Oh dear god”, Kevin mutters and Charles grins. 

“Because that worked so well the last time”, he calls out, they all vividly remember their Walnut Cakes and Christian snorts. “It’s something I do with my kids so you should be fine, Charles.”

“You’ll make your own gingerbread house!” Jenson grins broadly, waving at their workstations. “You have a recipe for a gingerbread dough on your station and lots of decorations - impress us.”

“Remember, this is your last chance to win the Christmas Bake Off, to become our new Starbaker team”, Toto adds and Charles blinks. “Wait, we have to make the house ourselves?? We don’t just have to decorate it??”

“It’s called _Bake Off_ for a reason, dickhead”, Max throws in dryly but Charles ignores him, staring at their judges and hosts a bit lost. 

“Where would the challenge be otherwise?”, Romain counters and Charles stares at Christian. “You bake the house with your kids too??”

“Oh no, we just decorate it.”

“Then how is that supposed to be easy-“

“You have four and a half hours, get ready, set ... BAKE!”, Jenson calls and Charles turns to Pierre with a desperate expression on his face. “This is an absolute nightmare.”

“Listen, maybe it isn’t that bad- what the fuck?” Pierre stares at the recipe and Charles groans. “My hopes and dreams - gone. My career - ruined.” 

“Stop being dramatic and help me.” Pierre nudges him gently and Charles sighs before he looks back at the recipe. “The fuck is molasses?”

-

“Okay, I sketched a rough draft of what we can do.” Lando pushes the paper forward and George nods, his fingers trailing over the fine lines. “Lando, that’s brilliant.”

“Maybe we can add a tower here”, Alex points out, tapping on the left wing of the castle and Lando nods, quickly scribbling something down while George turns to Alex. “Brilliant idea, mate. Okay, you can get started with the dough-“

“How’s it going boys?” Toto shows up at their station with Romain and Christian and Lando looks up, a grin on his face. “Great! We are making a gingerbread castle!”

“A castle?!” Christian stares at them and George shrugs nonchalantly. “You said you’re making gingerbread houses with your kids so we figured we have to step it up a little.”

Christian seems genuinely speechless for a moment and Toto grins. 

“I’m sure it’s going to be great”, he comments while Romain curiously eyes Lando’s sketch and Christian nods slowly. “Well, I’m excited to see how that will turn out.”

He’s not the only one, Alex thinks dryly while mixing the dough, making sure to stick as closely as possible to the recipe and he breathes out when they move on. 

He prefers working without his judges supervising him. 

-

“I already hate this”, Max mutters while he rolls out the dough, his hands sticky and Daniel grins, popping a gumdrop into his mouth. “It’s gonna be fine, Maxy.”

“I doubt it.” Max stares at the few sorry shapes that are supposed to resemble house walls. He’s excited about the challenge, somehow - well. He’s excited for the decorating. 

His Mum always did that with Victoria and him when he was a child, he has quite fond memories of that and he sighs when Jenson, Christians and Romain come over. 

“That looks promising”, Christian comments, nodding at the messy sketch Daniel did in under a minute and Max shrugs. “It’s a nightmare.”

He’s wearing a paper crown which was in his Christmas cracker he opened during the break, feeling a bit ridiculous and Daniel grins. “It’s going great, he’s just being dramatic.” 

“Well, what are you going to do?”, Jenson asks and Daniel raises an eyebrow amused. “A house?” 

“Any theme you are going for?”, Romain asks, eying their decorations curiously and Max shrugs. “Christmas? Snow? Festive?”

He knows they’re not very creative but he couldn’t care less - they’re here to have fun, not for the win and Daniel nods seriously. “We thought Christmas fits the theme really well.”

That makes Jenson and their judges grin and Romain shakes his head amused. “Alright, we’ll let you get back to work then.”

They move on and Daniel turns around, frowning. “Okay, should we put the first tray in the oven or-“ 

One of their house walls slowly slides on the floor and Max sighs deeply, not able to hold back his laugh though. 

“Merry fucking Christmas.” 

-

“You think this is gonna look good?” Lewis frowns and Nico turns around, raising his eyebrows. “Do you have a better idea?”

“I’m just saying, it could be a bit boring and George and-“

“I know they’re making this castle-kind of thing but there is so much that could go wrong.” Nico shrugs and Lewis narrows his eyes. “So you’re suddenly afraid of a challenge?? Afraid to take a risk-“

“If it’s an unnecessary risk that could cost us the win then yes!”

They glare at each other and before Lewis sighs deeply. “ _Fine_. But if we don’t win it’s your fault.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Nico waves dismissively before he turns to their ingredients, just waving at Toto, Romain and Christian who watched them speechless. “Can we help you?”

“No, I think we got everything we wanted to know anyway”, Romain says amused. “Good luck.”

“Thank you.” Lewis flashes him a quick smile before they start mixing and choosing their decorations, working in a strange sync Toto still doesn’t understand after all these years. 

Lewis still thinks they should’ve taken a risk. 

-

“It’s a gingerbread house, how hard can it be?” Kimi stares at the recipe with a frown and Seb steps next to him, ignoring the other drivers around them. “I would say we start with a sketch so we have the walls and everything.”

“Sounds good, I start with the dough.” Kimi gives him a small smile, turning and they work in quiet harmony until Jenson, Romain and Christian show up. “So, what are you doing?” 

“We outlined everything, we thought we could make my barn from home - the dough is nearly ready and it looks actually good.” Seb nearly doesn’t dare to hope but it _does_ look good, the whole tent smelling like gingerbread and Christian nods with a satisfied smile on his face. 

“Definitely a good approach. Have you thought about your decorations yet?”

“No, we’ll decide when we’re there.” Seb smiles relaxed while Kimi starts cutting out the walls and roof and Romain nods. “Alright, good luck you two.” 

They wander off and Seb closes his eyes when he hears a desperate “SEB!”

He turns around anyway, knowing he’ll always have a soft spot for Charles and Kimi smiles quietly next to him. 

They all know. 

-

“Don’t burn yourself again,” Hulk smirks and Kevin subtly flips him off while adding the cinnamon and the spices to their dough. “Shut up and make yourself useful instead of just standing around looking pretty.”

“You think I look pretty?” Nico’s grin, if possible, only widens and Kevin looks up, raising his eyebrows. “You have your moments.”

Hulk puts his head back and starts laughing before he comes closer and, after making sure no cameras are around, pressed a quick kiss on his cheek. “You are insufferable.”

“And yet you love me.” Kevin cracks the egg into the mix, ignoring the shivers that run down his spine and Nico grins. “I do. Alright, what do we need to do?”

“Roll out the dough and cut out the house parts”, Kevin orders, smiling when Jenson, Romain and Christian come towards their station. 

“There is so much peace and harmony coming from your side of the tent”, Jenson comments amused, “are you sure you’re alright?”

“Oh, we can make it spicier if you want,” Nico smirks, sneaking a hand on Kevin’s ass and, hidden from the cameras and their judges squeezes it quickly. 

Kevin grits his teeth, kicking him subtly behind the counter. “Asshole.”

“Bastard.”

“Aaaand we will have to censor that part too, lovely.” Jenson laughs while Romain nods towards their dough. “How is it going?”

“Great, we just added the spices.” Kevin shrugs and Christian nods. “Just be careful, don’t add too much - it might get a bit much otherwise.”

They wander off and Kevin turns to Nico, narrowing his eyes. “You’re unbelievable.”

Nico just laughs before he starts sorting through their decorations and Kevin shakes his head amused, adding a bit more spice to their dough. 

It’s going to be fine. 

And he’s still so in love with that chaotic German idiot. 

-

They’re currently assembling their house and Lando has to say he’s impressed with them. His sketch wasn’t that accurate and yet their castle is standing, nothing is falling so far and Alex adds the last roof, gently pressing before stepping back.

“That”, he takes a deep breath, “looks amazing.”

It does and the anxiety, the fear to fuck up, hits Lando full force, his chest tightening uncomfortably, the clock constantly ticking in the back of his head. 

Oh god, he feels sick. 

“I really wanna go home”, Lando mumbles, his stomach flipping when his eyes fall on all the decorations, frosting and buttercream, the anxiety forming a lump in his throat but George just puts an arm around him, pulling him closer. 

“It’s going to be fine”, he says calmly while Alex starts applying the first layer of buttercream. “Don’t worry about it.”

“But I do, what if it crashes, what if we drown it in buttercream, what if-“

The first M&M lands on the floor and Alex grins sheepishly. “Oops.”

They’re all covered in flour, Lando is pretty sure there’s frosting in his hair and George takes a deep breath. “Alright, we need a concept and colour scheme. Alex, you take the left side, Lando you the middle and I’ll do the right part. We cover up mistakes with buttercream and frosting, do your best.”

“Bossy”, Alex mumbles with a grin and that’s enough to make Lando grin, squeaking when George throws a few gumdrops at him.

-

Lewis has to admit he’s fascinated by how steady Nico’s hand is when he neatly lines up the chocolate chips at the roof of their little house, it even has a front porch and Lewis reaches for the candy canes to add them to the door.

He has to admit it’s a cute little gingerbread house, nothing has crashed down yet and he takes a deep breath, his anxiety slowly calming down. 

He refuses to look at what George, Alex and Lando are doing - they’re their biggest competition and he doesn’t want to know how they’re doing. 

(That’s a lie he did see their castle and it looks amazing and Lewis is very proud of them) 

(They’re still their competition though) 

(But he’s very proud) 

He makes sure to not disturb Nico, the last thing he wants now is that some buttercream smears and he reaches for the marshmallows. 

Nico has some frosting on his nose, he looks absolutely adorable and Lewis holds back a smile before adding the marshmallow as a small chimney. 

No need to - how did Lando put it - simp over his husband during a baking competition. 

He did look good in his fireproofs all those years ago though and his race suit and soaked in champagne after wins and- 

Get it together, Hamilton!, Lewis chides himself annoyedly, pulling the bowl with the gumdrops closer. 

No thirsting after Nico now. 

Maybe later though. 

-

“Oh no”, Charles murmurs when he gets their house out of the oven, “oh no no no no HOW?” 

He stares at the remains of what was supposed to be their house and he sighs deeply before he somehow sets the broken pieces up, Pierre watching with a concerned look in his eyes. 

It does look like a house now, a broken one but- 

Oh fuck. 

“SEB??! I THINK SOMETHING IS BURNING!”

He extinguishes the small fire with a generous amount of whipped cream and watches in horror how the house gentle sinks down in itself. 

“No!” 

“Why is this such a mess”, Pierre groans and Charles pokes the house a little desperately. 

“How the fuck did it _burn_?!”

He once again questions the physics of that oven before he sighs, reaching for a few chocolate chips and M&M and generously sprinkles them over the mess that was supposed to be their gingerbread house. 

“At least it’s a pretty mess”, Pierre says dryly, adding some sprinkles to the whipped cream and Charles sighs deeply, poking it again with a candy cane. 

“Our house just died.” 

-

“That’s the first big disaster of the day”, Hulk comments, watching Charles and Pierre trying to somehow save their house and Kevin grins. “It’s unbelievable.”

He adds a few candy canes for the door, watching Nico attempt a few artistic swirls with buttercream and failing tremendously and he hides his grin behind a bowl with M&M.

He will forever be fascinated by how competitive everyone gets during a simple baking competition and he reaches for the marshmallows. His hands are sticky, he has sprinkles everywhere and he’s oddly exhausted but he’s also happy. 

Happy and quite proud of their little house and he flinches when Jenson calls “TEN MINUTES LEFT!” from the front. 

At least they don’t have time issues. 

-

“I don’t even like liquorice this was a bad idea.” Max glares at the sweets as if it’s their fault that they taste like dog piss. “This was a very bad idea.” 

“I just don’t get why nothing sticks??” Daniel stares at their house, ignoring the clock ticking in the back of his head and poking their house gently. “Did we apply the buttercream too early??”

“Probably.” Max tries to add a few blue M&M but they just fall to the floor and Daniel- look, he’s not taking this whole baking competition too seriously. Not after last time. 

He knows they’re not going to win and it’s just for fun. 

But he’s getting a little bit frustrated because for once they stuck to the recipe and Max glares at their little house. “I want to shunt it into the wall.”

He’s still wearing the paper crown over his Santa hat, frosting on his clothes and face and Daniel holds back a smile before popping a few M&M in his mouth. 

“It looks like the house of a goth, seriously-“ Max keeps complaining about their house, trying to add more frosting and buttercream to get at least a few sweets to stick. “Now it looks like it snowed a lot.”

He snorts, reaching for some sprinkles, throwing them over the house which is covered in white and Daniel watches him amused. 

He can’t wait to marry him. 

-

Seb is really close to another breakdown and only his long experience with Ferrari’s bullshit stops him from having one. Instead, he takes a deep breath and tries once again setting their house up.

"Please, please, please", he mumbles, praying to every god there is that the walls will stay up this time. 

“We put the pieces out too early”, Kimi comments, snacking on some leftover gingerbread and Seb bites back an “oh really?!”

Their house - or rather his red barn, they used red food colouring - is constantly sinking, the dough too soft to actually stand and Seb sighs. 

“We could improvise”, he starts, already reaching for a bowl. “Add the buttercream and decoration on top.”

Kimi doesn’t look too convinced but they don’t have much time left and he nods, shrugging. “Okay, sure.”

Yeah, Seb promises himself to never attend any baking competitions ever again.

Ferrari and the Bake Off - he's not sure what was worse. 

Probably Ferrari. 

But the Bake Off comes close right now. 

Didn’t he suffer enough already this year? 

-

“Time’s up, please step away from your bakes!”, Toto calls and Lewis takes a deep breath, wiping his hands clean on his apron which is if he’s being honest quite useless. 

Everything is sticky and he knows that if he touches his hair now he’ll never get that frosting out again. 

Their house looks good but when he sees the gingerbread castle Alex, George and Lando created- alright, maybe their chances for the win just shrunk a little. 

And by a little, he means a twenty-second lead he sometimes had over his opponents (read: mostly Max) during this season. 

As long as the kids didn’t fuck up the taste completely they’ll win this. 

He braces himself when Toto, Jenson, Romain and Christian step to their workstation and he wants to reach for Nico’s hand but knows he can’t. 

He still wants to though.

“It looks amazing”, Romain comments with a warm smile and Christian nods curtly. “It’s perfectly executed, nothing is messy and the decorations are very tasteful.”

They break off a piece (Lewis nearly flinches, they’re destroying it-) and he watches anxiously how they try their gingerbread. 

“Perfect balance of the spices”, Romain comments and Christian nods. “It’s very good.” 

He doesn’t seem too happy about them doing well, Lewis knows he was secretly rooting for Max and he clears his throat. “Thank you very much.” 

He’s still polite after all. 

“We’re glad you like it”, Nico adds and they watch their hosts and judges walk over to Max and Daniel’s house next.

“That went well”, Lewis mouths at Nico and Nico nods, squeezing his hand for a second before they turn their attention back to their competitors. 

That’s the most affectionate they’ll get. 

“Nothing wanted to stick to it”, Daniel explains their house at the moment, looking a bit frustrated. “And we tried! But now it just looks like an avalanche dropped on it.” 

“Yeah, I can see that.” Romain gives them an amused smile, walking around the house to take in the details and Max sighs defeatedly. “It’s a shit show.”

“Maybe it tastes good.” Christian smiles encouragingly, breaking a piece off and chewing. It’s quiet inside the tent apart from the Christmas song playing in the background and Romain, who also took a bite, frowns.

“It’s a bit dry-“

“Oh _come on_.” Max groans. “How can it be dry when it’s basically _soaked_ in frosting and buttercream?!” 

Dan pats his back comfortingly and Christian swallows. “I like it, it’s good.”

“It’s okay”, Romain agrees, Max subtly rolling his eyes and their judges and hosts move on to Seb and Kimi who wait for them with- a bowl?!

Lewis raises his eyebrows before turning to Nico who looks just as confused. “I guess baking isn’t their strong suit”, Nico mumbles and Lewis nods, feeling a bit sorry for his friend. 

“The gingerbread was not long enough in the oven so it didn’t stand properly”, Seb tells them with a shrug, looking not too bothered, “so we decided to tear it down and just make some sort of trifle.” 

“We are race car drivers and not bakers”, Kimi adds roughly and Romain smiles. “It’s a creative solution, I have to give you that.” 

“And it doesn’t even taste that bad.” Christian sounds surprised while Toto and Jenson still seem a bit speechless. “It’s not a house but it’s ... something.” 

Lewis snorts, not able to hold back his grin when his eyes meet Seb’s, his friend grinning as well. 

He knows Seb wasn’t too fixated on winning, he’s more doing this for charity (and after last time Seb was walking into the competition with very realistic expectations) and they watch Toto, Jenson and their judges walk over to Alex, George and Lando’s workstation. 

“Well this just looks fantastic!”, Jenson exclaims and Lewis has to quietly agree with him. The boys really managed to somehow create a full gingerbread castle with small towers, there is an obvious blue-and-orange colour scheme going on, marshmallows as little sheep surround the castle, fake snowflakes on the roof and Lewis knows they’ll win this.

As long as the gingerbread doesn’t taste like complete shit they should be fine and while Lewis would lie if he said he isn’t a bit disappointed - they deserve this. 

They deserve this win more than anyone else and Romain still looks a bit speechless by what they did. 

“I can’t believe you really managed this in just four and a half hours”, he says, shaking his head incredulously. “Can I hire you for my kids?”

They laugh, Lando grinning broadly. “You absolutely can but only if we win.”

“It’s massively impressive”, Christian says, flashing Alex a small smile. “Your hard work really paid off here and nothing is out of place, the colours and sweets fit perfectly.”

“Thank you so much”, Lando whispers, squeezing George and Alex’s hands and Romain carefully breaks a piece off from the tower.

“And”, he says after he took a bite, “it tastes absolutely fantastic.”

“The perfect mixture of spices, not too much, it’s just perfect. Amazingly done.” Christian nods and Alex, George and Lando all grin. 

“Thank you”, George nods, his voice steady, he radiates confidence and he pulls the other two in a tight hug when Toto, Jenson, Romain and Christian walk over to Charles and Pierre. 

Lewis still feels oddly proud of them, his eyes meeting George’s and he smiles slightly, nodding subtly.

George grins before turning back to his boys and Lewis leans against his counter next to Nico, looking back to Toto and the others. 

“Boys, what happened?!”, Jenson asks, staring at the mess on the table and Charles sighs dramatically 

“Our house”, he starts with a grave voice, “died a tragic fire death.” 

It’s quiet for a second before they all burst out laughing and Lewis shakes his head amused - whatever that white mess of whipped cream is on their counter, it’s ... something. 

“Can we taste it?”, Christian asks with a frown and Charles looks genuinely shocked that he wants to try it. 

“If you wanna die of food poisoning, please, go ahead”, Pierre comments dryly, he’s grinning as well and Romain laughs. “I’ll give it a pass I think but thank you.” 

“We accidentally set fire to the house, I have no idea how that happened”, Charles adds and Lewis can’t stop laughing quietly - of course from all the people in the tent it would be Charles who accidentally sets something on fire. 

“Alright, we’ll move on then.” Jenson grins before they head over to Hulk and Kevin who also decided to go for a house - it doesn’t look as good as theirs, Lewis notices with relief. 

“Well, you belong to the group of drivers who managed to make a standing house”, Toto comments amused. “Congratulations to that.” 

Nico smirks. “Yeah, that seems to have been a problem for quite a few.”

He winks at Charles who just laughs, looking unbothered. 

“It’s nice”, Romain comments, walking around the gingerbread house to get a look at every side. “Simple.”

“Basic”, Christian comments before he breaks a piece off. “But definitely a good attempt. And”, he takes a bite, “it’s good.”

“Yeah, it does taste alright. Like a normal gingerbread house”, Romain nods. “Good consistency of the dough. A bit too many spices for my taste but that’s okay.”

“Thanks.” Kevin grins, he looks incredibly relaxed and Lewis turns to Nico while Jenson is still talking to Kevin and the other Nico.

“What do you think?”, he whispers and Nico frowns. “We’re not gonna win this”, he answers quietly. “The kids were too good.”

“Last place?”

“Do you really have to ask?” 

They grin at each other for a second, a warm feeling spreading through Lewis’ chest before they both look up again, Toto, Jenson and their two judges back at the front of the tent. 

There are still Christmas songs playing in the background, sounds like ‘Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays’ by NSYNC right now and Lewis misses his mulled wine. 

And he can’t wait for the cosy Christmas evenings with Nico in front of their fireplace in Colorado. 

“Alright, we’re gonna make this round quick so we can announce our winner.” Jenson grins broadly, he seems to really love his new job and Romain clears his throat. 

“P6 - I don’t think that comes as a surprise to anyone - goes to Charles and Pierre.”

“No way”, Charles deadpans but he’s grinning, nudging Pierre gently who looks quite unbothered and Christian goes on. 

“P5 is for Seb and Kimi while P4 goes to Max and Daniel.”

“Solid”, Daniel comments while he high-fives Max and Lewis holds back a grin. He knows they had quite a few mixed performances and they were here more for fun than for winning. 

Seb just shrugs while Kimi is eating the leftovers from their house - they look like they accepted their fate.

“P3 is for Kevin and Nico, P2 for Lewis and Nico - I don’t think anyone is surprised that P1 goes to Alex, George and Lando.” Christian smiles at them and Lando grins broadly. “YES!”

They celebrate, the rest of them clapping and Lewis watches with a soft smile the kids hugging again. They did great and he’s really happy for them. 

“Okay, now…”, Jenson makes a small, dramatic pause, an excited look in his eyes, “I think it’s time to find out who our Christmas Starbaker team is! What two interesting challenges we had and what amazing bakes you created, guys. You can be really proud of yourself there - it was such a joy to be back with all of you and I hope you had as much fun as we did.”

“Debatable”, Charles mumbles, he still has whipped cream everywhere and Lewis and Nico grin at each other, Lewis trying to ignore his nervousness. It’s okay, just another baking competition. Nothing important, no World Championship. 

And yet- they’re all race drivers. They’re all naturally ambitious and Lewis _knows_ they have to win this and Christian clears his throat. 

“Alright then. P6 goes to Sebastian and Kimi - I’m really sorry guys but it just wasn’t enough today.” He flashes them an apologetic smile while the rest claps politely but Seb just waves dismissively. “Nah, it’s alright. It just didn’t go our way this time.”

“We are not last Pierre!” Charles stares at Pierre incredulously and Romain shakes his head amused. “No, you’re not. You’re P5.”

“YESS!” Charles beams, pulling Pierre into a tight hug while Max seems relieved that he’s in front of Charles again. Pierre looks quite happy about P5 as well, loosely keeping an arm around Charles’ waist and they’re both beaming happily.

“We made up a place!” Charles seems really excited about it and Lewis shakes his head amused - he gets why Seb is so fond of him. 

Romain turns back to the rest of them with a warm smile. “Max and Daniel you kept P4 - definitely solid.” 

“That’s alright, I am not last which means my Mama will let me come back home for Christmas. All I wanted.” Daniel grins, he looks at peace with their result (so does Max who keeps stealing decorations from their house, popping them into his mouth) and when he notices Lewis’ gaze he winks at him. 

Lewis just smiles, Nico and he will join them in Australia for the wedding after Christmas and he knows Dan has other priorities right now. 

“This also means Kevin and Nico held on to their really impressive P3”, Romain announces, he looks genuinely happy for his teammate and Hulk pulls Kevin into a tight hug - Lewis is still surprised they got their shit together. 

That was definitely the last thing he expected during their last Bake Off, he actually expected them to set the tent on fire but apparently, opposites attract. 

They’re cute though and Kevin grins. 

“He’s a decent partner”, he says and Hulk laughs. “Thanks, mate, that means a lot. You’re also quite alright.”

He winks at him and Kevin snorts, shaking his head amused. 

“This also means it will once again be decided between our two World Champions and three future ones,” Jenson smirks, his gaze wandering from the rookies to Nico and Lewis, Lando blushing.

“We-“

“Romain? Christian?” Toto looks at them and Christian clears his throat. 

“You both, once again, exceeded all our expectations”, he starts and Romain nods. “It’s a pleasure to work with you and we enjoyed both bakes a lot. In the end, as always, it comes down to the details.”

“P2...”, Christian makes a dramatic pause and now Lewis does reach for Nico’s hand, “goes to Nico and Lewis and that means Alex, George and Lando win the Christmas edition of The Great British Bake Off!”

They all start cheering immediately, Max yelling “YES BOYS!”, Lando has tears in his eyes while he gets squished to death by George and Alex and Lewis smiles broadly. 

He’s not sad about their second place and one look to Nico shows him that he feels the same. 

“GG BOYS!”, Lando yells, laughing when George presses a kiss against his cheek and Toto and Jenson both look incredibly proud.

“You did amazing and we are so impressed by you, boys.” Christian hands Alex some flowers and Jenson nods. “You absolutely deserve this.” 

“Thank you so much.” Lando still looks shaken and George smiles, putting an arm around them and pulling them closer. 

“They did amazing and I’m really proud of them”, he says, his voice calm and a big smile on his face. “Really. But also well done to Nico and Lewis - I guess I speak for all of us when I say they are what we all aspire to be in ten years.” 

Lewis’ smile widens and he pulls them into a tight hug, Nico following him.

“I’m so proud of you, you absolutely deserve this”, he tells them and Nico nods. “That was such an impressive performance.” 

-

“Of course we are a bit disappointed”, Lewis starts, “but winning isn’t everything in life.”

“And these three really deserved it”, Nico adds and Lewis nods. “Absolutely. We will keep baking and who knows? Maybe we can reclaim our crown one day.” 

But for now, he just wants to take that plane to Colorado with Nico. 

-

“We know baking isn’t our strong suit.” Daniel laughs, looking completely relaxed. “We are better race car drivers than bakers. But it was good fun again and I’m sure my Mum will be proud of me.”

“Any plans for the winter break?”, Natalie asks with a kind smile and Max smirks, casually leaning against Daniel. “Yeah.” 

“Anything cake-related too?”

“Oh, absolutely.” 

-

“I think it’s time we acknowledge that we can’t bake”, Charles states solemnly and Natalie raises her eyebrows behind the camera. “You only realised that now?”

“I mean, we thought maybe we just need another try.” Pierre shrugs, a grin playing around his lips. “But hey, at least we improved one place!”

“And who knows? Don’t they say ‘third time is a charm’? So when we come back next year we will win-“

“We are not going back into that tent, Charles!” 

-

“P3 is solid, two podium finishes.” Hulk laughs, shaking his head amused and Natalie smiles softly at them. “We really are going to miss you on the grid, boys. Any plans for your future, Nico?”

“Yeah, I’m moving to the US.” Hulk smirks while Kevin tries his best not to smile. “Heard they’ve got some good racing going on there as well.”

“Do you already have a favourite driver there?”

“Think his name is Magnussen.” 

-

“We are not baking. Not anymore.” Seb shakes his head firmly but he’s smiling and Natalie laughs. “But did you have fun?”

“I guess somehow we did.” Seb’s face softens and he leans against Kimi. “I think I said at one point I had everything under control - that was a lie.”

He laughs. “It was pure chaos but it’s always nice to do something with the boys.”

“And you don’t regret helping Charles?”

“No.” Seb shrugs. “I care about him and it’s definitely gonna be weird not having him around constantly anymore.”

“So he was your favourite teammate?”

“He and Kimi.” Seb smiles, squeezing Kimi’s hand below the camera.

He can’t wait to go back home to Switzerland with Kimi and have some well-deserved peace. Write his Christmas cards and just spend some time with his family. 

Maybe he should gift Charles one of these Masterclasses in Baking for Christmas. 

He somehow doubts it would help though. 

-

“I would say our redemption arc is complete.” Lando grins, he’s proudly holding the flower bouquet and the little trophy they got while Alex next to him nods, a happy smile on his face. “I think we really deserved that.” 

“Did you enjoy it?”

“It was massive fun but I think we all need a break now.” George laughs, pulling Lando and Alex a bit closer. “It doesn’t look like it but it’s also very exhausting.” 

“I hope you will enjoy the winter break, boys.” Natalie flashes them a warm smile. “Anything you want to tell your fans before the year ends?”

“Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and follow us all on Twitch.”

**Author's Note:**

> That is the last thing I'll post this year - honestly, thank you all so so so much for such an amazing year. You all are amazing and I'm just eternally grateful for your support 💛💛
> 
> Happy New Year! x
> 
> you can follow me on tumblr @ [verstappened](https://verstappened.tumblr.com/) if you want to yell with me more about my upcoming fics in the new year ksjdksd
> 
> Kudos and comments are very appreciated thanksss 💛

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28434702) by [KyoukaiKanata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KyoukaiKanata/pseuds/KyoukaiKanata)




End file.
